steve lightfoot

For the third season running, Bryan Fuller et al have managed to shock us silent with the revelations and twists that bring the season to the close. With this finale possibly being a bit more final than the other two, we discuss whether it’s possible it could’ve ended better, worse, or even differently. We discuss the omissions from the Red Dragon arc, and whether they were necessary to begin with, and dig deeper into the #Hannigram.

We’re joined by an out of town friend, fan of the podcast and the show, Raina, as we discuss the penultimate episode of our season (hopefully not series). Raul Esparza gives his best performance of the series, Richard Armitage creates an otherworldly persona through movement and vocalizations as he truly becomes the dragon. We speculate on the end of this season, discussing what will become of Will Graham. And we talk about Meatloaf. Just ‘cuz.

Formerly NBC’s Hannibal goes far off-book with this episode, taking us to a place where we smug book readers are just as uncertain about what is to come in the final two episodes of the season. The Red Dragon is thrown at Will’s family in a tense scene of stalking, Hannibal spends as much time as possible fucking with everybody around him, and Will is absolutely done with both Jack Crawford and former BFF Hannibal Lecter.

We’re halfway through the Red Dragon arc on Hannibal, and are being given both stunning beauty in the scenes between Dolarhyde and Reba, and stunning acts of CGI crappery (see the below CGI teeth). We go off on several tangents, Cooper calls some fans hipster douchebags and spends a good four minutes angrily ranting about the aforementioned terrible CGI. Find more information about The Great Red Dragon paintings of William Blake here.

The Red Dragon arc reaches the beauty that separates this work of fiction from so many in this genre with the introduction of Reba McClain (Rutina Wesley) and beginning to peel back the story of Francis Dolarhyde. Meanwhile Will and Hannibal begin a dance of working together in their own family, as Hannibal remembers his building of a family with surprise guest Kacey Rohl as Abigail Hobbes, and Will clings to the relaxed comfort of his family. Miko returns to the table with Cooper & Ophilia, and they’re all around the same table again!

We’re joined by Kate Kulzick from Sound on Sight‘s Hannibal podcast This is Our Design joins us to discuss the rise of The Great Red Dragon, as Miko completes her summer walkabout in a vacation home with poor wifi. Cooper is a bit jarred by the transition from pretentious seventies foreign film first half of the season to (relatively) straight forward procedural adaptation of the first book of the Hannibal Lecter series Red Dragon. We marvel at an almost silent introduction of our new character Francis Dolarhyde played by Richard Armitage.

An episode that could very well be the series finale, as it brings us all the way up to the beginning of the Thomas Harris novels (excluding Hannibal Rising). The Italy portion of this season comes to a close, as does Mason Verger’s story line. This episode brings us some of the most bizarre and upsetting imagery of the series, which says a lot. All in all a superb episode of television that doesn’t pull a single punch in wrapping up its ongoing stories.

So, now the question: Did Hannibal kill and eat his younger sister Mischa? Was she his first victim? This is the major overarching discussion of this third episode of Hannibal’s third season. Cooper is a bit exhausted by the slowness and didn’t initially like the episode. Miko & Ophilia are a bit more on board thanks to firefly symbolism. Jack Crawford makes his way to Italy, Will heads to “the place Hannibal can never go,” visiting Stately Lector Manor in Lithuania and meeting Chiyoh, the new addition to the cast, and Hannibal does a lot of entertaining, and some stabbing.

At once an episode full of hallucinations and dream logic, and an episode that follows a very straight forward timeline. Will Graham wakes up after the events of the Red Dinner and heads to Italy himself. There he encounters Inspector Pazzi from the novel Hannibal. Will seeks Hannibal both for closure, and for comfort, to offer forgiveness.

And we’re back! Hannibal roars back onto our screens on a motorcycle in Paris, stalking his prey. This tremendous season opener written by Bryan Fuller & Steve Lightfoot, and directed by Cube director Vincenzo Natali wastes no time in proclaiming Season 3 to be an entirely different beast than seasons 1 and 2. The adventures of The Fells, Hannibal & Bedelia DuMaurier, in first Paris, then Florence, are stunning achievements of television, as well as looping back in time so we can spend a significant amount of time with our old friend Dr. Gideon. Can’t wait for episode 2!

We are joined at the table once again by Kate Kulzick from Sound On Sight, The Televerse Podcast, and our progenitor the This is Our Design Hannibal podcast. The reason for our expanded table is that we have arrived at the finale! Tonight, the throw down happens, and we get resolution that is both beautiful and horrible, painful and exquisite. Cooper unabashedly calls this the greatest episode of television he’s ever experienced. The Jack/Hannibal confrontation we glimpsed 12 episodes ago comes to horrible fruition, the waters surrounding which side Will is on grow murkier, and there’s a fateful date with a linoleum knife.

This is the final episode of Eat The Rudecast for this season, but we will return next summer when the show returns. In the meantime, Damn Good Podcast is coming, as Cooper, Miko, & Ophilia deconstruct Twin Peaks.

We’re thrilled to meet Mason Verger, played by Michael Pitt, as our story kicks over into end game and mini-series blasts its way toward the fight conclusion. This episode offers one of the most unnerving tableaus in the sabertooth Randal Tier display, and a thrilling climax that involves Will cutting the ginger.

A treat of an episode filled with guest stars Katherine Isabelle, Jeremy Davies, and Chris Diamantopoulos. We spend the first ten minutes discussing the character of Margot Verger and the differences between the books, movies, and this series, and Bryan Fuller’s versions of a character that was a bit of a stereotype in Thomas Harris’ work. Beyond that we get the strangest killer of the week scenario involving a horse and womb.

A hell of an episode advances all the plotlines while taking a significant turn to the beautiful surreal of experimental films. We discuss the validity of the Hannibal/Alana storyline, the reality of the cages in the BSHCI, and the beauty of the food at Hannibal’s dinner party.

All on this episode of Eat The Rudecast, an unauthorized podcast about NBC’s Hannibal, and the works of Thomas Harris.

We return from weeks of illness and vacation and illness again to a really cracking puzzle box of an episode that unfolds and unfolds with more plot points than we can even be prepared for. We bid a farewell to Beverly Katz as she has been deconstructed by Hannibal. Cooper feels that this is the episode where Hannibal becomes magic, but is willing to make the leap. We’re thrilled to see the returning Abel Gideon (“We thought you were dead!”) and Frederick Chilton continues to make Cooper giggle.

All on this episode of Eat The Rudecast, an unauthorized podcast about NBC’s Hannibal, and the works of Thomas Harris.

It’s a new season, and we start it with an ultimate throw down between Jack Crawford and Hannibal Lecter. The killer of the week is extended and creepy, Will is behind bars, and there’s lots of wonderful and horrible all around. We are joined by Kate Kulzick, from our favorite Hannibal Podcast This is Our Design and The Televerse

Click here to see the “Leda and the Swan” painting in Hannibal’s dining room. Warning, NSFW!

We discuss a listener’s thoughts on Will’s hallucination during his time at the cabin with Abigail in S01E12, then dovetail into a greater discussion of the season as a whole before we take our time deconstructing the use of unreliable narrators, the beauty and the horror of the finale for Season 1 of Hannibal. Miko even reluctantly looks forward to what season 2 might bring.

The primary storyline is building speed as Will is becoming unhinged, Dr Chilton and Dr Gideon are back, and there is no killer of the week. Ahhh. Take it in. Then stick around for a crazy discussion of our HannibalLand Theme Park idea.

We completely dismiss the KOW (Killer of the week) as pointless, despite an amazing tableau in the totem pole and the presence of Lance Henriksen. We also debate the ethics of good and evil in a really great episode of Hannibal.